One of our members sent me a great question that I thought would be fun to hear everyone's opinions and expertise on. 1) What shotguns and gauges are the most efficient hunting quail?
2) What is the predominant weight of shotguns?
3) Are side by side guns more efficient than over and under?

He wanted just a general idea of what gun to use and why, especially concerning weight and type of load to use. Let's all help him out so he can see what we have to say!

1) I have never owned an over & under, I have seen some beautiful ones out there, but have never bought one. The shotgun I use is the 870 Wingmaster in 12. If I am going to be hunting just quail, I use my 26" improved with 7 1/2 or 8 shot. More times than not out West it is Chucker & Quail hunting, so I use my 28" mod barrel.

2) The weight of my shotgun with the 28" barrel is a very well balanced 7.25 lbs. I am 6'1" & about 195lbs.

3) For question #3, as I said in answer #1 I can not compare.

For everyone that is going to tell me that a 12 gauge is way to much gun for quail, I will not disagree I also have a Rem 1100 in 20 gauge, but I just like my 870 better & I let the quail get up & fly before I dust them.

I would opt to go with a 20 or 28 gauge. It depends on the shooting skills of the shooter which would be better. I use both, the best shot for me is 7.5 shot.

2. Both my 20 and 28 weigh exactly the same 6 pounds 4 ounces.

3. That is apple and oranges if one can shoot a double, fine. A lot of hunters have trouble looking at the barrels and not the shooting rib. That is why a lot hunters go with the O/U. They don't have to worry about the barrels. One advantage of 2 barreled shotguns is, the hunter can use a different choke and shot size in each barrel. The advantages and disadvantages of both guns are as mentioned.......Bob

My Dog And I Are A Team. We Practice Every Day.
I Always Trust Tony, He Knows More Than I do.

I'm a double guy love o/u and s/s both but you can't beat a 870 pump for hunting out west that's what I used to use. My o/u I shoot now is a Browning Citori Super Lightening and weigh like 6 1/2 lbs. As for gauge I shoot a 20 but love 28's to but I wouldn't tell any one a 12 is to big for Quail out west like GSP4EVER said you might be shooting mixed bags here out west and Valley Quail are tough Chukars even tougher.

And young you are Bob. I don't like switching anymore I got mackueler degeneration (I know I didn't spell that right). And it messes me up if I switch but I went through 6 nice guns not knowing it was my eye sight. Now I just shoot 1 gun for birds and 1 for big game.

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